As we entered Singapore harbour the first thing I noticed was a couple of Japanese cruisers at anchor. These had been captured at the end of the war and we anchored quite nearby as we couldn't go alongside till we had de-ammunitioned the ship. A boat party went across to one of the cruisers and I was among them. We had a good look around and saw how the Jap sailors had lived. Although the ship was modern in armament and design - they were as good as ours but the accommodation was really primitive. The crew slept on the deck in large mess-decks and they had communal baths in canvass troughs. There seemed to be very little comforts for the ships crew and perhaps the biggest shock were the toilets which consisted of canvassed off areas of the after deck where sailors squatted on planks overhanging the stern, not very comfortable I imagine at sea.
After we had disposed of our ammunition and taken on lighter peace-time ammunition we went alongside the quay and waited our turn to go inside the huge King George V dry dock. We were allowed ashore at last and buses were running us into Singapore City. The city is almost bang on the equator, the only city in the world in that position and although the climate is hot it is mostly a dry heat and comfortable with usually sea breezes and little humidity. The city centre was dominated by the Raffles club which had been the focal point for the British colonials before the war and was now an officers club. We had the Fleet canteen which was pretty good and sold a very strong beer called "Tiger", you could also get a good meal in the Fleet canteen which we did before looking around the city.
The city wasn't as bustling as Hong Kong and after looking around he markets and shops we had a drink in the US Fleet canteen and finished up in a taxi dance in a place called the "Happy World". A taxi dance is a place where you buy a roll of tickets and each ticket entitles you to a dance with one of the Chinese-Malay hostesses, with so many servicemen in Singapore it was the only way you could have a dance, anyway it was a lovely place and we enjoyed it very much.
We went in dry dock eventually and most of us had to live ashore in barracks as the ships water and toilets do not work in dry dock, we could go into town practically when we wanted to as there was very little for us to do, and I used to visit Singapore Lido every day for a swim and had a look round Changi POW camp which was nearby. This was where British and Australian POWs had been kept and half-starved during the war- a very grim place indeed. We had Jap prisoners to do all the dirty work- emptying the toilets (which weren't the flush type) and chipping paint on the ship and all the general labour around the dockyard. I met the lad I joined up with in Singapore , his name was Lol Callaghan and he told me another Boro lad was on the Southern Prince which was berthed near us. We had a night on board the Southern Prince with this lad called Bill Merryweather from Thornaby, we supped a bottle of rum between us and I staggered home to barracks that night really sozzled.
A notice appeared on the notice board asking if any Belfast crewmen would like to have a fortnights leave at the rest camp up the coast of Malaya near Serembran at a place called Port Dickson. Needless to say I put my name down and was granted a fortnights leave and we set out by landing craft a couple of days later.
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